Chapter 4: A Much Needed Talk of Unify (The Untold Story of Isabella Lestrange)

James Potter

Classes that day seemed to drag on and Isabella could barely concentrate on anything but what the sorting hat said to her and a certain group of Gryffindor boys.

At dinner that evening she was brought out of her thoughts by the conversation occurring around her.

“…I can’t believe those Gryffindorks! Such a shame ole Slughorn had to come around and mess up our little duel,” complained Rosier.

“No matter, we’ll just deal with them later, when no teacher can interfere,” Malfoy explained in his arrogant voice.

Isabella turned a looked at the boys and fear quickly overcame her. Although she was rather mad with the boys she by no means wanted her fellow Slytherins to get in a fight with them. ‘Why can’t they be civil and settle their arguments with words and not wands anyways,’ thought Isabella. ‘What are they even fighting about? I suppose I lost track. They have no reason to want to harm Sirius, Remus, James, and Peter—what have they done? Oh right, Rabastan thought they were being mean to me. Just great, I need my big, bad brothers to watch over me….’ Isabella let out a frustrated sigh, which didn’t go unnoticed by her brothers.

“What’s wrong Ella? Is something bothering you?” Rabastan asked her as he took a bit of his chicken leg.

“Oh, no nothing is wrong,” Isabella replied a little too quickly.

Rodolphus glanced across the table at his sister. “Is it those Gryffindor boys again, Ella? We can take care of them for you. We’ll make sure they never come in a hundred mile radius of—”

Both of her brothers gave her funny looks before Rabastan said, “Ella it is only the first day of classes, how can you be worried about them already?” He did have a point; being worried about classes was not a good enough excuse for this early in the school year.

“I’m just afraid I’ll get behind or something. I don’t know,” Isabella said glancing down at her dinner plate. “I’m not hungry anymore,” she said pushing away the plate. “I guess I’ll go back to the common room; I’ll see you later.”

As Isabella began to stand up, her brother’s voice stopped her. “Ella you’ve hardly touched your food, how can you not be hungry?” Rolodophus voice rang with concern.

“I had a big lunch, I guess. I’ll see you back at the common room.” And with that Isabella stood up from the table and quietly exited the Great Hall.

On her way out she met someone she really didn’t wish to speak to.

“Hello Lestrange, how’s Slytherin treating you? Is the rest of the house as evil as you are?” James Potter’s voice rang silently through the hallway.

“Hey James,” was all Isabella could manage to respond with.

“Oh no, you see, people I’m friends with usually call me ‘James’ and only the people I am friends with, so why are YOU calling me that?” James’ voice shook Isabella as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.

“James,” she said, ignoring his comment, “why do you hate me so much? What did I do and please don’t tell me it is all because I got but into Slytherin.” Isabella’s voice was soft and gentle and easily masked the frustration she felt.

“Yes, it is because of that, Lestrange! And the fact you lied to us! Don’t you understand Slytherins are evil? Your family is evil! You are evil!” Isabella had to use all of her might to prevent the tears that were threatening to spill from falling down her soft, pale cheeks.

“When did I ever lie to you, James? Never! And how can you judge me so quickly, you clearly don’t even know me. I thought… I thought we were… we were friends.” Her voice began to shake as she uttered her last sentence.

“On the train, you never said you were a Lestrange!” James retorted back, his anger growing with each word his spoke. Isabella was thankful the hallway was deserted and everyone else was at dinner.

“I never said it wasn’t. And I specifically didn’t tell you because I knew you would judge me because of that. You call me the evil one, the discriminating one, but you are the one judging me based on my last name and not on my actions. If I was evil, why would I sit with you, Remus, and Peter on the train?” She couldn’t understand why he hated her so much, she had been nothing but kind to any of them. Isabella couldn’t hold it in any longer, her tears began to flow quickly out of her sparkling blue eyes and her knees gave in as she collapsed on the ground below.

“What is going on here?” Isabella knew that voice anywhere.

“What the hell did you do to my sister, POTTER?” And she knew that voice as well.

Not wishing to watch any kind of fight, Isabella used all of the strength she possessed and picked herself off the floor and quickly fled the scene. She couldn’t bear to see anymore fighting, especially on her behalf.

She ran quickly down the hallway and up a flight of stairs, she didn’t even realize who she knocked into at the top.

“Oh Professor! I’m so sorry! I didn’t even see you there. I should have been watching where I was…”

“Nonsense my dear! It is perfectly alright!” Dumbledore’s kind face gave her a small smile. “Are you alright my dear,” he asked as more tears trickled down her face.

“Yes sir, really, I’m fine,” she replied, very clearly not fine.

“Why don’t you come to my office and we can have a nice little chat,” Dumbledore replied warmly.

“Okay,” she managed to get out, as she quickly followed the Headmaster to his office.

“Chocolate Frog,” he muttered to the statues in front of his office, as the two of them quickly headed up the stairs.

“Lemon drop?” He asked as they took their respected seats. She shook her head, ‘no’ and he continued. “Now really Ms. Lestrange, what is the matter?”

Suddenly, bolder than before, she answered him, “I just, I just don’t understand. Why was I put in Slytherin?”

“Ah, yes, I had a feeling that was what this was about,” Dumbledore said in an all-knowing way.

“There was a reason the sorting hat put you in Slytherin Ms. Lestrange,” he began. “You have the ability to do something nobody has ever been able to do. You have the ability to unite. Unite Slytherin and Gryffindor for the first time in a very long time."

“Yes, that is what the sorting hat said, but I don’t understand, how could I possibly accomplish that?” She asked, wiping all of the remaining tears from her face.

“By simply, being yourself,” he responded. “You were not put in Slytherin because of your family, nor because of you character traits, but rather because in Slytherin you could more effetely bring together people from differently houses and beliefs.”

“Thank you Professor,” Isabella said as she began to stand up.

“You are quit welcome my dear and remember to come and see me if anything is ever bothering you again,” he gave a kind nod as she walked out the door and headed back to her common room to ponder what he had told her.